


Family (the most important thing)

by leighwrites



Series: Reddie Oneshots [11]
Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Adoption!, Christmas time!, Domestic Fluff, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Get Together, Love Confessions, M/M, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, secret santa time, this is the cheesiest thing i ever wrote
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2019-12-17
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:09:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21837988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leighwrites/pseuds/leighwrites
Summary: Richie was always known for his bad ideas that had severe consequences but he was sure this time he had one that was so full-proof and so well thought out that absolutely nothing could go wrong with it at all.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Series: Reddie Oneshots [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1479170
Comments: 11
Kudos: 122
Collections: IT Fandom Secret Santa 2019





	Family (the most important thing)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dianawritesfic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dianawritesfic/gifts).



Richie was always known for his bad ideas that had severe consequences but he was sure this time he had one that was so full-proof and so well thought out that absolutely nothing could go wrong with it at all. Eddie had wanted to adopt a child, but with the system being geared to married couples, there was no way that was going to happen, or at least not with a long draining process with no guarantee if or when he would get one. It had lead to Richie’s ‘master plan’ of a fake marriage that would last them around two years. He’d mapped the whole thing out in his head perfectly so there were no loopholes.

Eddie could adopt a child in that time and then one year after the adoption was final, Richie would sign a no-fault divorce to ensure he could keep the child and their apartment and Richie himself would move out, giving Eddie the space needed to raise the child he’d adopted. Eddie had been unsure about the plan at first, and with very good reason. They would have to act like a genuine married couple, even down to sharing a room and a bed. Eddie wasn’t so sure Richie could manage that part and fully commit to a rouse so extensive, but Richie constantly assured him he could, and that he would sleep as far across the bed away from him as possible or even on the floor. Whichever one worked for Eddie - not that Eddie would ever let Richie sleep on the damn floor of all places. The bed was fine. It wasn’t like they’d never shared one before.

Everything went exactly to plan. They got married and kept it as lowkey as they possibly could because the less people who were involved, the better. It took about seven to eight months before they were able to adopt a child, mostly because Eddie wanted to skip the baby and toddler stage which meant a lot of trips to orphanages with a social worker until Eddie finally found one six year old he couldn’t help but fall in love with - not that Richie could blame him. Everything about him was adorable from the soft brown hair to the eyes that almost matched the exact same shade of green as Eddies, and even the soft sprinkle of freckles across his face. To Richie, he looked like something out of a kids book.

The boy’s name was Nathan or ‘Nate’ as he preferred his friends to call him, and the woman in charge explained to them he’d been there a while; longer than most of they kids. It’s because he was shy and found is hard to make friends, but when he  _ did  _ make a friend he opened so much that he could never shut up. This was, according to the woman, something that put people off of adopting him, but not Eddie. Eddie knew that he could handle a talkative kid because he’d been Richie’s friend for over twenty years and no one talked more than him.

They keep their rouse up for two years like they planned, though they tell Nathan the truth. He’s intelligent and he knows better than to tell anyone. It also stops him getting  _ too _ attached to Richie in those two years. He needs to see Richie as the fun uncle who takes care of him when Eddie is at work and spends a lot of time with him and not a second parent. Those are Richie’s words too, not Eddie’s.

“What are you doing?” Eddie asks one night after making sure Nate is in bed.

Richie is sitting in the living room at the large computer desk they have in the corner where Eddie’s laptop is, a marker hanging from his mouth and an array of papers in front of him. He looks up from them at Eddie’s voice, glancing back at him over his shoulder as he removes the marker from its place. “I’m looking for apartments.”

“I thought you weren’t leaving until New Year?”

“I’m not but it doesn’t hurt to keep an eye out.” Richie looks back down at the papers with a sigh. “Everywhere is just so damn expensive.”

“Rich,” Eddie crosses the living room and rests his arms against Richie’s shoulders, playfully tugging his hair, “you don’t have to move out right away you know. This place has three rooms. Stay as long as you need to.”

What Eddie  _ wants _ to say is  _ stay, _ because he wants to be  _ with _ Richie and that’s why he’d been so unsure about this plan when Richie had presented it to him. All it’s done is get him more attached to Richie and his little quirks. He’s never imagined there will be a time when Richie doesn’t live here. They’ve been living here since their second year of college with Stan until he’d met Mike and eventually moved in with him. For ten years it had just been the two of them until now. How is he supposed to live here without him after all this time?

It’s not until a week or two later that Eddie discovers Richie doesn’t actually  _ want  _ to leave, and the only reason he discovers this is because Richie is a dumbass who doesn’t realise that in a small apartment with almost paper thin walls that his naturally semi-loud voice carries pretty clearly. It happens one morning when Richie is getting Nate ready for school. Eddie’s just finishing up with brushing his teeth when he hears the unmistakable sound of Richie’s voice coming from Nate’s bedroom which is right next to the bathroom.

“You know why I have to leave, kid.”

“Don’t give me that.” Nate’s voice huffs from the other side of the wall, clearer than Richie’s which means he’s closer to where Eddie is right now. It piques his attention and Eddie moves closer to the wall so he can hear them better over the water. “This place has three rooms so it’s not like you’re not in the way.”

“I know kid, but I kinda have this thing for your dad but he doesn’t feel the same so I have to leave or things are gonna get too weird.”

Eddie takes a step back from the wall, turns off the faucet so they know he’s done, and tosses his brush into the holder before leaving the bathroom. It’s about four seconds before Nate emerges from his room with Richie, fully dressed and ready for school. Eddie takes Nate to school with a quick bye and a see you later to Richie and heads for work.

He spends the entire morning in his office thinking about what he’s overhead that morning, fingers drumming anxiously against the side of his mug. Richie didn’t want to leave. He didn’t  _ want  _ Richie to leave.  _ Nate  _ didn’t want Richie to leave. Nate liked Richie. Richie liked Nate. Richie liked  _ him _ . And he liked Richie. He wanted to be with Richie, and he knew that much, but he hadn’t considered for a moment that Richie would want to be with  _ him _ . But Richie thought that  _ Eddie  _ was the one who didn’t want to be with  _ him  _ and that’s why he’s been looking at apartments way earlier than he needs to be. Except he doesn’t need to be because Eddie likes Richie and Richie likes him, and now Eddie’s sitting here in his office going in circles.

He needs to do something about this that doesn’t involve him going around in circles. He needs to find a way to let Richie know he likes him and he wants him to stay. But how is he supposed to do that? 

\---

Eddie has always found Christmas to be the most stressful time of the year. He never knows what to get his friends, and all it does is send constant waves of panic crashing through him. But over the last two years it’s been more stressful now there’s a kid involved. Kids are harder to buy for, and as they get older, tastes change and things become unnecessarily expensive. He knows what Nate wants, what every kid wants, a Nintendo Switch, but getting one is proving a difficult task. Anywhere he tries online is sold out and he doesn’t have the time to be standing in lines for one with his busy work schedule. 

“What’s up Eds?” Richie asks one say after work when he comes home to find Eddie scrolling manically through his phone with a frustrated expression on his face. Richie’s rarely seen him the stresseed, and the last time he had was when he’d been trying to find a game Nate had wanted for his 3DS.

“Every damn time I think I’m close to getting this console the place I’m looking is sold out and they’re not gonna get shipments for  _ weeks _ and Christmas is in two weeks! Two!” Eddie snaps, tapping his thumb against the screen harder than he needs to.

“You still can’t find one?” Richie asks, a frown etching its way onto his face. Eddie’s being trying so damn hard to find one thing -  _ one  _ \- and he’s just constantly met with a dead end. “What’s the console again?”

“Nintendo switch. I’ve told you this  _ tons _ of times.” Eddie continues to scroll through what Richie assumes is ebay in a desperate attempt to find someone to but the console from.

Richie grins, raises a hand, and carefully places a bag onto the table which thuds quietly. “You mean like this one?”

Eddie finally looks up from the screen in front of him, spots the Gamestop bag on the table, and almost drops his phone. “Richie where -”

Richie pats the box carefully. “This, my dear sweet Eds, is me saving your ass. I set this aside for myself when we got a new shipment but I think you need it more.”

“Richie I can’t take that. That’s yours.”

“You’re not taking it. I’m giving it to you.”

Eddie looks from Richie to the bag where the console sits, the logo just about viewable through the bag. He looks back to Richie again, and Richie is unprepared for the moment that Eddie is suddenly hugging him, arms wrapped tightly around his waist. “I literally can’t thank you enough for this Rich. You’ve really saved my ass.”

“It’s nothing Eds. I’d do anything for that kid. He means a lot to me. You do too.” Richie raises a hand, nudging Eddie’s jaw gently. “We’ve been friends for a  _ long  _ time.”

Eddie tightens his arms around Richie. He wants to tell him he knows because he heard, but he holds himself back and keeps to the hug. He knows right here that he has to tell Eddie how he feels - he just needs to figure out  _ how _ .

\---

Christmas day starts with the feel of something slamming onto them. Richie is the one who wakes up because of it, greeted by the dark and a very active Nate who is trying to wake Eddie who was still sleeping soundly with his head pressed to Richie’s shoulder. Richie does a double take as that information settles in his brain. Eddie is basically latched to him like a koala, arm tossed over Richie’s chest and his leg over Richie’s hip. 

Richie tiredly raises a hand, shoves it lightly against Eddie’s shoulder, and attempts to help Nate wake him. “Eds, you need to get up.”

Eddie groans, tightens his hold on Richie, and mumbles a tired, “It’s too early.”

“No dad!” Nate gives Eddie’s arm another shove. “It’s not too early! It’s Christmas. We have lots of presents to open! Come on! Get up!”

“Yeah Eds, you heard the kid. Time to get up, it’s Christmas, let’s go!” Richie says, managing to roll himself out of Eddie’s grip to Eddie’s displeasure at the loss of heat that Richie provided. The second he gets out of bed, Richie cringes. It’s freezing, dark, and the red numbers on the clock resting on the nightstand tell him it’s four in the morning.

He shoves his feet into the pair of pink bunny slippers next to the bed that had once been a gag gift from Beverly for his thirtieth birthday that turned out to be a god send during the winter months when it drops below freezing. He stumbles through the darkness of the bedroom, groping for the matching annoyance he calls a bathrobe. Nate finally abandons his task to try and wake Eddie, launching for the door to race them to the living room.

“Eds if you don’t get up willingly, I’ll pull the covers off you.” Richie threatens, grabbing the bottom of the duvet in warning.

“Alright, alright, I’m getting up.” Eddie complains, slowly sitting up and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He eventually climbs out of the bed and grabs his own bathrobe, tugging it on as he sleepily shoves his feet into his slippers.

He joins Richie at the door who lingers back to make sure that Eddie doesn’t try to go back to bed, and they make their way to the living room where they find Nate sitting on the floor in front of the presents. It’s clear he’s been up for a while since the lights on the tree are all on and there’s an empty glass of milk sitting on the coffee table. Before Nate can actually tear into his presents though, Richie tells him to wait so he can find the camera on his phone to record him.

Once Nate has opened all his presents, he’s happily distracted with the Switch that Richie has to set up since Eddie doesn’t have a clue how to set up a console, and Richie glances to the clock to see that it’s only five in the morning now. “Hey Eds, wanna go back to bed? You know he’s not gonna notice we’re gone for like… three hours.”

Eddie glances to Nate who is completely immersed in the Mario game he’s playing and nods. They head back to the bedroom and just as Richie is about to climb back under the sheets, Eddie stops him with a hand pressed to his arm. “Wait a sec. I know we agreed no presents because it’s stressful enough buying for a kid, but I kinda got you something anyway.”

Richie raises his eyebrows in curiosity and Eddie reaches under the bed for a bag he’d stashed away the previous night. He passes the bag over to Richie who wastes no time in opening the bag and pulling out what appears to be a scrap book. He looks up at Eddie before untying the ribbon sealing the book closed and opens the first page. What he sees inside takes him completely by surprise, as the first page is an old photograph of him and Eddie as kids, playing on the swings in Richie’s back yard. 

He continues to flick through the book, each page filled with a picture from their youth all the way from preschool to college. Some featuring just them and others with their friends. Even some pictures with the two of them and Nate. It was as though they were a real family. When he reached the end, there was still a good section of blank pages at the end. Choking up, Richie looks up at Eddie, blinking a little. “Eds, this is the best gift anyone has ever given me. Thank you.”

“I left some of them blank because I want us to fill them together. As a family.” Eddie admits, reaching forward to take Richie’s hand in his own. “I don’t want us to get that divorce. I want you to stay with me forever because I love you.”

Richie blinks himself slowly out of his shock at the confession, his eyes widening just a little as he blurts out an “I love you too. Of course I’ll stay with you. All you had to do was ask.” As Eddie leans in to kiss him, Richie lifts a hand and curls it around his jaw to keep him an inch away. “You know… this technically makes me your present.”

Eddie doesn’t hesitate in pulling Richie’s hand away from his jaw so he can finally kiss him, pushing him back onto the bed. “I guess I better unwrap you then.”


End file.
